The Greatest Reward
by multiplicities
Summary: Sena's family owes money, so he decides to make use of his legs to pay for it. More precisely, he joins a high school football club in exchange for money.
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Eyeshield 21.

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The Kobayakawa family was in a great deal of trouble.

Like many other families, it was financial worries that frustrated them. The Kobayakawas were in a great deal of debt.

Oh, their debtors weren't loan sharks or anything. Sure, they could be a little unpleasant when the Kobayakawas were late in making payments. Still, it could have been a lot worse.

Due to this, the entire family had moved from their previous home to a smaller, less comfortable one. Sena had also ended up a farther distance from any school. He had originally wanted to go to Deimon, which was where Mamori-nee-chan went, but it seemed too far away now.

Besides, he wasn't sure if he could get in.

Being a good and helpful child, Sena had tried his best to do his share of providing for the family. He'd gotten a job.

He had become a construction worker, of all things.

It wasn't much, and Sena knew that the money he brought in was practically useless, but any amount made him feel as if he was helping.

Sena's job consisted primarily of lifting heavy things and setting them somewhere else, then lifting more heavy things. There were probably a lot of technicalities and complications involved, but he was usually too exhausted to care.

"Look, boy, are you sure you want to do this?" One of the older workers – they were all older than he was, funny enough – offered him a hand up and a towel.

Sena just laid on the ground, too exhausted to move. "Do what? Um, no thanks."

"I know we hired you for about a week more, but you're… really not suited to this kind of work."

"Are you firing me?" Sena squeaked, horrified. This was his first job! He had to do well, and it was pretty much the only place where he could get work right now. Thankfully, there was still a while before school began and there were very few places that would hire workers – student workers, at that – for just a few weeks.

"No, it's just… isn't carrying stuff too much for you?" the nice fellow worker inquired, obviously worried. Sena remembered his name now: Gen, the other workers called him. He seemed to be in charge of them to some extent. He looked much older than Sena and he had the kind of bulging muscles that Sena had always wished that he himself possessed.

Mamori-nee-chan always told him that as long as he ate healthy food, he'd grow up to be big and strong too.

Well, at least she didn't use baby speak.

"I can do it," Sena insisted stubbornly. "Besides, I need this job."

"Yeah, it's just that there are easier ways to earn money, you know?"

"Like what, Gen-san?"

"Well, for example… you're pretty fast. I've seen you run; you could use that." Sena winced. He knew when Gen had seen him run. Once, he'd thrown up while working and messed up someone else's shoes. The guy's pants had also ended up in bad shape, if he remembered correctly. In the end, Sena had run around for an hour before losing the other guy. He'd screamed apologies, too, but it hadn't seemed to do much good.

Well, he was pretty used to running from people.

"In a race?"

"Yeah. Or some sort of competition, like… football. You could probably tell someone that you'd play if you got money for it, that sort of thing."

"Who would pay for something like that?" Sena asked incredulously.

"You're in high school, right? I can think of a few people with high school football teams who'd pay for your legs," Gen-san said grimly. From his expression, Sena thought that he was thinking of someone very specific. He decided not to ask.

"M-maybe. But for now, I'd like to work here, please."

"Keep it up, kiddo," Gen chuckled, ruffling his hair. Sena decided that he rather liked the feeling.

Sena kept on working for the entirety of the weeks that he had signed up for. By the time school was about to start again, he thought he might have developed some tiny bicep muscles.

At least he wasn't fainting from exhaustion anymore.

Another bonus was that when it was time to check the results of the entrance exams, Sena had an idea for how he would earn more money.

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**A/N:** For anyone who's curious, I don't think I'll let Sena go to Deimon.


	2. Chapter 2

"So then… you want to apply for our scholarship?"

Sena fidgeted, ducking his head. "Yes."

His examiner looked at him skeptically, noting the skinny arms, the tiny body that Agon could easily break in half.

And would, if he ever decided that he didn't like this kid's face. By the looks of him, Kobayakawa Sena would be swallowed alive by Shinryuji, and the fact that he was decidedly effeminate didn't help – not in a boy's school.

"Even though we've already decided on the two applicants we're accepting?" he continued questioning. "Though they're not what we hoped for," he mumbled to himself.

They weren't the kind of students that would bring the Shinryuji Nagas onto greater heights, he could feel it. Both of them were good, but it was their attitudes that were the problem. One of the kids was a bully, swaggering through the exam and boasting about his muscles. Though the examiner felt guilty for the thought, he would be willing to pay to see the kid get crushed by Agon. The other one wasn't arrogant as much as brainless. Just another piece of cannon fodder trailing in Kongo Agon's glory.

"Sir?"

This boy, though, wasn't much better.

He sighed then proceeded to fire questions rapidly. "How many kilos can you bench-press? How long does it take for you to run a 40-yard-dash? What position do you play?"

Sena gaped for a moment. "Um, I'm not sure; I'm pretty fast but I've never timed myself; and whatever needs speed…?"

Given those answers, he was tempted to fail the boy right there. Did he know anything about football? Had he even done any research, even?

Still, it would be better to waste his time on a useless candidate than lose someone who might, by weight of a miracle, be something special.

He got up, snapping irritably at the boy to hurry up.

"Here, lie down and try to lift these weights."

Sena obediently started to lift twenty kilograms. He was out of breath by ten repetitions.

The examiner reached up to rub between his eyes. It wasn't _bad_, no, and he hadn't expected someone who looked that skinny to be able to lift even twenty. But even the weakest of their football team could bench-press at least 50 without even breaking a sweat.

After giving Sena some time to recover from the strain because that gasping had really started to worry him, he led Sena to their football field.

"Ah, and who is this?"

Just what he needed.

"Sendoda-sensei," he greeted warily. As harmless as the old man looked, he could was still physically fit.

"K-Kobayakawa Sena, sir," Sena stumbled, his social skills apparently deteriorating exponentially when the list of strangers surrounding him increased.

"And what are you doing here?" the old man peered into Sena's face, looking like what he imagined a hermit living on a mountain for many years would look like.

"I… I'm testing out for the scholarship, sir."

"Yes, I just ran him through the weight-lifting and now I want to see him do the 40-yard-dash," the examiner intervened. There was actually quite a few more tests left in physical examination, but if Sena did as badly at running as he did at weight-lifting, then there was no point in dragging the process out further.

"I see." Sendoda Sumito nodded wisely and stood by the benches, possibly to observe or simply because he had nothing better to do. The examiner glared at his direction for a moment; wasn't testing potential recruits Sendoda's job, not his?

"Sena, I want you to run from here to there," he gestured, pointing at the two cones he had set up. "I'll tell you when to start."

He marched over to the center of the forty yards, fiddling with his timer.

"And…. go!"

He lifted his eyes up, expecting to see Sena struggling, pale-faced and panting, for the finish line. Instead…

Sena _ran_.

It wasn't perfect and he could tell that his stamina couldn't keep up, but by the time he clicked the stop button, he didn't need to glance at it to know what it said.

_4.2 seconds._

That was faster than anyone on their team, possibly faster than any football player in the Kanto region. Even that monstrous linebacker from the Oujou White Knights wasn't that fast, though his other stats were so much better than Sena's there wasn't even any point in comparing the two.

"He said he was fast," he murmured, still a little dazed.

"It looks as though he has a purpose for running," Sendoda remarked next to him. "As it is, I look forward to welcoming him to my team."

He walked off, not looking ruffled at all and leaving only a few words to carry over into the examiner's ears.

"Kobayakawa Sena, eh?"


End file.
